TENNYS SANDGREN

Novak Djokovic has returned home after being thwarted from defending his Australian Open title only to face a new predicament: He could be barred from the French Open this year, too, if he’s still not vaccinated against COVID-19.

Novak Djokovic came within one victory of sweeping all four of last year’s Grand Slam tennis tournaments and entered 2022 needing one title to set the men’s record of 21 major championships.

The Australian government has denied No. 1-ranked Novak Djokovic entry to defend his title in the year's first tennis major and canceled his visa because he failed to meet the requirements for an exemption to the country's COVID-19 vaccination rules.

Novak Djokovic is 26-0 in Grand Slam matches in 2021.

Rafael Nadal has won his first match back after being off the tour for nearly two months.

Coco Gauff has won in her return to Centre Court at Wimbledon.

The Associated Press has learned that teenager Coco Gauff and Australian Open runner-up Jennifer Brady will lead the U.S. Olympic tennis team at the Tokyo Games.

(AP Photo/Christophe Ena) (Christophe Ena)PARIS — (AP) — The Latest on the French Open (all times local):___11:15 p.m.Novak Djokovic is now 17-0 in first-round matches at the French Open. ___7:15 p.m.Rafael Nadal's bid for a record-breaking 21st Grand Slam title has started with a straight-set victory at the French Open. The American veteran's 24th appearance at the French Open ended in a 6-3, 6-1 defeat against Ekaterina Alexandrova of Russia. ___4:35 p.m.Two-time Wimbledon champion Petra Kvitova says on Instagram that she has pulled out of the French Open because of an ankle injury. Barty played 13 matches on clay in the build-up to the French Open, winning 11.

Rafael Nadal has improved his French Open career record to 101-2 as he pursues a 14th championship there and his record-breaking 21st Grand Slam title overall.

Novak Djokovic is now 17-0 in first-round matches at the French Open.

Novak Djokovic has warmed up for the French Open by beating Alex Molcan 6-4, 6-3 to take his 83rd career title, coming on home soil at the Belgrade Open.

When Tennys Sandgren resumed practicing after his can’t-go-anywhere hard quarantine ended, the American said Tuesday, his hands developed blisters from holding a racket. And, like Azarenka, both Sandgren and Pospisil lost their opening matches. “I wouldn’t say the whole tournament is a joke, but for some players, it’s not feasible. “I needed fresh air or maybe a bigger room or better conditions to play against the best players,” she said. Players in the “regular” quarantine were allowed to leave their rooms for five hours per day during the first two weeks after getting to Australia.

Spain's Rafael Nadal reacts during his first round match against Serbia's Laslo Djere at the Australian Open tennis championship in Melbourne, Australia, Tuesday, Feb. 9, 2021. Daniil Medvedev extended his winning streak to 15 matches with a 6-2, 6-2, 6-4 win over Vasek Pospisil and seventh-seeded Andrey Rublev beat Yannick Hanfmann 6-3, 6-3, 6-4. 9 Matteo Berrettini defeated Kevin Anderson, a two-time finalist at majors, 7-6 (9), 7-5, 6-3. Barty lost to Sofia Kenin in the Australian Open semifinals last year and then skipped the U.S. Open and her title defense at the French Open because she stayed in Australia during the COVID-19 pandemic. AdTwo-time Australian Open quarterfinalist Tennys Sandgren also went through the hard lockdown.

Serbia's Novak Djokovic celebrates after defeating Canada's Denis Shapovalov in their ATP Cup match in Melbourne, Australia, Tuesday, Feb. 2, 2021. (AP Photo/Hamish Blair)MELBOURNE – Rafael Nadal didn't make it for Spain's ATP Cup opener because of a sore back, deciding it wasn't worth the risk a week ahead of the Australian Open. Nadal played more of a hand in that, with Djokovic limiting his time on court because of a blister. Back at Melbourne Park, where he has won a record eight Australian Open titles, he had plenty of energy to consume. Osaka, who won the U.S. Open last year and the Australian Open in 2019, will next face No.

Australian Open tournament director Craig Tiley defended Djokovic for appealing to Australian Open organizers to ease restrictions so players could move to private residences with tennis courts. (Morgan Sette/AAP Image via AP)Two players are among the three latest COVID-19 cases that have emerged from testing conducted on passengers who arrived on charter flights bringing people to Melbourne for the Australian Open. More than 1,200 players, coaches, staff, officials and media arrived on flights in a 36-hour period until Saturday morning to prepare for the Australian Open, which starts Feb. 8. Victoria state Premier Daniel Andrews said some of the cases linked to the tournament will be reclassified as “non-infectious shedding." The most heartening thing at the end in the chat there was a scroll of thank yous from all the stars and players," Tiley said, according to AAP.

Health authorities confirmed there'd been three positive tests for COVID-19 returned on Saturday, and another on Sunday. The Australian Open starts on Feb. 8. Kei Nishikori, the 2014 U.S. Open runner-up, and two-time Australian Open champion Victoria Azarenka were among a group of players who arrived on the flight from Los Angeles. Also, Americans Madison Keys and Tennys Sandgren returned positive tests, but Sandgren was given permission to fly after Australian health authorities determined he was no longer contagious though still shedding viral particles. South Australia health officials “confirmed that there is no one who has an active COVID-19 infection in the entire tennis cohort based in Adelaide,” the Australian Open said on Twitter.

Spain's Rafael Nadal, center, arrives at Adelaide Airport ahead of the Australian Open tennis championship, Adelaide, Australia, Thursday, Jan. 14, 2021. The Australian Open is set to start Feb. 8. To do so, they are having players undergo COVID-19 tests before they board their charter flights, again after they arrive and frequently during the quarantine period. Totally recovered!”The Australian Open has already been delayed three weeks because restrictions in place for the COVID-19 pandemic. All other tournaments will be in Melbourne, including the 12-team ATP Cup starting Feb. 1 and two WTA events in the week leading into the Australian Open.

FILE - In this Jan. 28, 2020, file photo, Tennys Sandgren of the U.S. reacts after losing a point to Switzerland's Roger Federer during their quarterfinal match at the Australian Open tennis championship in Melbourne, Australia. (AP Photo/Lee Jin-man, File)Tennys Sandgren forced an early clarification of the COVID-19 rules as the first of 15 charter flights began flying Down Under to deliver players for the Australian Open. The two-time Australian Open quarterfinalist was given a special clearance to board one of the flights from Los Angeles to Melbourne despite testing positive to COVID-19 in November and again on Monday. Upon completion of that review he was cleared to fly.”The Australian Open has already been delayed three weeks because restrictions in place for the COVID-19 pandemic, and is set to open on Feb. 8. The women qualifiers include two-time Australian Open and Roland Garros doubles champion Timea Babos of Hungary and British player Francesca Jones, who has a rare genetic condition.

Novak Djokovic, of Serbia, returns a shot from Tennys Sandgren during the third round at the Western & Southern Open tennis tournament Tuesday, Aug. 25, 2020, in New York. (AP Photo/Frank Franklin II)NEW YORK Novak Djokovics neck felt much better, and his tennis looked much better, in a 6-2, 6-4 victory over unseeded American Tennys Sandgren at the Western & Southern Open on Tuesday that improved the No. The Western & Southern Open is usually held in Ohio but was moved to the U.S. Opens site in Flushing Meadows this year to make for a two-event, no-spectator bubble amid the pandemic. He has won five of the past seven Grand Slam tournaments, including at the Australian Open in February. Womens quarterfinal matchups set earlier in the day were two-time Grand Slam champion Naomi Osaka against Anett Kontaveit, former No.

A trainer works on the neck of Novak Djokovic, of Serbia, during his match with Ricardas Berankis, of Lithuania, during the second round at the Western & Southern Open tennis tournament Monday, Aug. 24, 2020, in New York. 1-ranked Djokovic was playing his first ATP match in six months because of the coronavirus pandemic; he pulled out of the doubles event Sunday because of his neck. That major championship's site in Flushing Meadows is hosting the Ohio-based Western & Southern Open, too, as part of an unusual doubleheader with no spectators. Like Djokovic, Serena Williams and Naomi Osaka emerged with difficult wins, while two-time Wimbledon champ Petra Kvitova, the No. Djokovic now meets American Tennys Sandgren, a 6-7 (4), 6-2, 7-6 (5) winner over No.

WTTs nine teams have come together The Greenbrier resort in West Virginia for their three-week season. It was awesome to have some people out there to get behind the tennis, Sandgren said. The WTT season started just as confirmed coronavirus cases were soaring nationally. Anyone who wasnt a competing athlete wore a mask inside the tennis stadium and fans had their temperatures checked prior to entering. Sandgren later won matches in men's doubles with James Ward and mixed doubles with Jessica Pegula.